Finite element analysis of prestressed concrete reactor vessels

This paper discusses the development of a finite element code suitable for the safety analysis of prestressed concrete reactor vessels. The project has involved modification of a general purpose computer code to handle reinforced concrete structures as well as comparison of results obtained with the code against published experimental data. The NONSAP nonlinear structural analysis program was selected for the ease with which it can be modified to encompass problems peculiar to nuclear reactors. Pre- and post-processors have been developed for mesh generation and for graphical display of response variables. An out-of-core assembler and solver have been developed for the analysis of large three dimensional problems. Major modifications to the code have been the inclusion of constitutive models for reinforced concrete. (Auth.)